Today is 20th June, almost halfway through the year.
Do you remember your New Year resolutions?
Suppose you are on track and still keeping with them, congratulations.
But for some of us, you might say, what resolutions?
I did not bother setting any because I knew I would not keep that damn for too long.
I wonder how soon into the new years did you usually gave up on your resolutions?
We have been reading through the book of Exodus.
The people of Israel were chosen by God to be rescued from slavery in Egypt.
God has a plan to bring them to a promised land,
to live among them and for them to serve and worship Him.
And ultimately to use them to bless the rest of His creations.
A couple of weeks ago, we joined them at the high point of their journey
with God when they say resolutely in one voice in chapter 24,
we will do everything the Lord has said we will obey.
They resolved to enter into a confident relationship with God
to worship Him exclusively.
Today we are in chapter 32 and we came to a crisis point of their relationship with God
because they have done it again.
They turned from their commitment and made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf.
We are present with a dilemma.
Can a holy God live among sinful people?
Can a holy God live among them?
Being God of righteousness and justice,
He cannot turn a blind eye to sin.
And in His compassion and grace,
He is always merciful and loving.
So how is God going to balance justice and love?
The end of chapter 24 indicates that
after they declared allegiance to God,
Moses, their leader,
stayed up in the mountain for about 40 days,
getting the details of how they should live with the holy God among them.
And in chapter 32,
they created,
the created,
disrespect their creator,
and made for themselves an idol.
They turned their God's original plan for creation upside down.
Again, by trying to be a creator.
Only 40 days.
And they say,
Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain.
And they hassled Aaron,
their assistant leader,
to make them gods
who will go before them.
And when an idol in the shape of a calf
was cast and fashioned,
the people call it their God.
They have broken all of the three,
first three commandments by their actions.
Were they impatient to wait at the bottom of the mountains,
wanting to settle in the promised land as soon as possible?
Last Sunday,
James told us that the home God prepared for themselves
was so magnificent and inviting.
And back in chapter 29,
we were told that Israel tends to force their way
into whatever they wanted.
But there is something deeper,
a deeper issue going on.
And the issue is idolatry and sin.
Charles Spurgeon,
an English preacher in the late 18th century,
said in one of his sermons,
when we sin,
it is taking God's mercy
to leverage them upon his enemies.
He points out that
idolatry is people offering
the riches given by God
before the shrine of their greed.
They prostitute
the God-given talent
to serve
to the service
of their ambitions.
God gives them judgment
and they indulge in their advancement
and seek not
the interests of God's kingdom.
God gives them influence
and they use their influence
to enlarge themselves
and not for the honor of God.
James shared with me
something
from our very own brother,
Damien,
regarding idols,
which is very profound and true.
Damien said,
people put their gold
into their hearts
and outcome their idols.
Idol worship
is also an act of stupidity.
In Psalm 106,
verse 20,
they exchanged
the glorious God
for an image of a bull
which eat grass.
Paul says in
Romans 1, 25,
that humanity
exchanged the truth
about God
for a lie
and worship
and serve
created things
rather than the creator.
God lay out
back in chapter 20
that
they shall not have
God before him.
They shall not make
for themselves
an image
in the form of anything
in heaven
or on earth
or in the water
nor bow down
to them
or worship them
and they shall not
misuse the name
of the Lord their God.
He explains that
those who bow down
and worship idols
are the same as
hatreds towards him
and earning punishment
for themselves
and their children
to the third
and fourth generations
and he will not
hold anyone guiltless
who misuses name.
but on the other hand
in the same chapter
it says that
he shows mercy,
he shows love
to the thousand
generations
of those
who love him
and keep his commandments.
As their
confident partner,
God has all the right
to demand
the penalty
of that breach
of contract.
He can call
on the terms
and being God
and the creator
of the whole world
can make a new
group of people
and he told Moses
in our chapter today,
chapter 32,
verse 9 to 10
of that intention.
I have seen
these people,
the Lord said to Moses,
and they are
a sneaked-necked people.
Now leave me alone
so that my anger
may burn against them
and that I may destroy them.
Then I will make you
into a great nation.
Great nation.
However,
he has
confident himself
to their
ancestors,
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Israel
to make
their offspring
into a great nation
and there are
other contractual
obligations
that God
has put himself
into
with his creations.
There is a
fundamental tension
between justice
and mercy
of God,
especially
when a group
of people
who are stubborn,
rebellious,
and evil.
God would be right
to lay down
his judgment
on them
and destroy them
right there and then.
Tim Chester said
that when God
said to Moses
in verse 10,
now leave me alone
so that my anger
may burn against them
and that I may destroy them,
which may imply
an invitation
for Moses
to intervene.
as he's saying,
when you leave me alone,
I will destroy
your people,
but if you don't
leave me alone,
then things might
turn out
very differently.
Moses did
plead
for the mercy
for God's people
by focusing
on God's glory
and God
heed his prayer
and relent,
which changed history
and present us
with a mystery.
elsewhere in the Bible
taught us that
God does not
change his mind.
So what happens
when we pray?
Will our prayer
make a difference?
Tim Chester suggested
that the best way
to look at prayer
is God intends
our prayer
to be how
he changed the world.
God invites Moses
to share his compassion
for his people.
We see in verse 19
that Moses burned
with anger
as God's anger
burns against Aaron
and Israel
in verse 10.
Verse 19 says,
when Moses approached
the camp
and saw the calf
and the dancing,
his anger burned
and he threw
the tablets
out of his hands,
breaking them
to pieces
at the foot
of the mountain.
Even though
he is all-powerful
and all-knowing,
God never works alone.
The Father,
the Son,
and the Holy Spirit
created the world
together.
They addressed sin
and redeemed
the world together.
And God
invites
and allows
his creation
to work
with him
in showing
compassion
and mercy
as well as
exercising
judgment
and justice.
What a privilege
it is
to be counted
worthy
as a fellow
worker of God.
How foolish
of us
if we give away
this privilege
by not living
according to the
creator order
and exclude God
from our lives,
especially
when we
create for ourselves
idols
to worship.
when we
live
like we
are the
creator,
we will
end up
like Israel,
trying to
create an image
for the
living God.
And we
break our
confident
relationship
with God
and worship
a lie.
We are
tearing apart
our contract
with God.
We broke
our promise
like Moses
broke the
two tablets
into pieces
at the foot
of the mountain.
our relationship
with God
scattered
into pieces
and their
penalty
to be paid
due to
the breach
of contract.
At that point,
what Israel
needed,
what we
needed
as we
break our
relationship
with God
is an
atonement
for our
actions.
Moses
tried to
be that
atonement
but before
that,
there is
something he
has to
do
in verse
25 to
26.
Moses
saw that
the people
were running
wild
and that
Aaron
had let
them
get out
of control
and so
become
a laughingstock
to their
enemies.
So he
stood at
the entrance
at the camp
and said,
whoever is
for the
Lord,
come to
me.
And all
the
Levites
rallied
to him.
He
has called
them to
repentance.
He
has
to
call
to a
stop
of their
foolishness
and out
of control
worshiping.
And that
day,
about
3,000
of the
people
died
in the
hands
of the
Levites.
They were
set apart
to the
Lord,
willing to
stand on
God's
side.
Instead
of joining
their
fellow
people
in
parting
uncontrollably,
they joined
with God
to exercise
judgment on
their brother,
friend,
and neighbor.
What is
a gut
reaction
to their
action?
Is God
being unfair?
cruel in
allowing
3,000
people
killed
that
day?
We often
expect God
to have
mercy,
especially
when we
are the
one
facing
with
judgment.
We want
justice,
just not
for me.
We often
start our
sentence about
God by
saying,
well,
because God
is so-and-so,
he should
do so-and-so.
I think
God should
be so-and-so.
Or why
didn't God
do so-and-so?
While we
are accusing
God of
certain things,
such as
being unjust,
have we
stopped and
consider how
we are
treating God?
Have we
treated God
justly?
We often
simplify and
minimize the
impact of our
actions and
our sin.
Like Israel,
we treat
our confident
relationship
with God
lightly.
As a
result,
we miscalculate
and very
misguided in
our ability
to repay
our debt
to God.
We treat
sin as
if there
are just
one momentary
slip-up.
We treat
our commitment
to God as
if our
new year
resolution.
We need
great mercy,
but we
also often
think that
God is
obliged to
be merciful
with us.
Have you
ever got
into a
situation
that you
might have
to ask
for mercy?
I did.
About eight
years ago,
actually nine
years now,
the tax
office charged
me with
wrongly
claiming
land tax
exemption
on some
properties I
own and
forced witness
of documents
as a justice
of peace.
Sitting at
court that
day after
pleading
guilty,
I still
pray for
God to
do the
impossible
of
granting
me
mercy
and for
the
judge
not
to
give
me
a
criminal
record.
It was
a
wishful
thinking
because
God
had dealt
with me
justly in
addressing
my pride
that I
thought I
can manipulate
some legal
loopholes.
people
I
wonder if
I
did not
plead
guilty
and
fought
to
keep
my
pride.
I
most likely
be sitting
in a
jail cell
right now,
still trying
to clean
my name
by paying
off some
legal team
instead of
being here
treasuring
Jesus with
you and
seeing how
God
brought
us
together.
Many
people
think
they
can
buy
mercy
by
hiring
the
legal
team
the
best
team
they
can
buy
or
indeed
there's
still
some
country
you
can
pay
for
mercy
which
is
called
a
plea
bargain
hoping
that
the
deal
penalty
will
reduce
or
cancel
however
the
debt
incurred
by
our
sin
towards
God
will
not
just
go
away
someone
has
to
pay
for
it
eventually
God
calls
Israel
to be
his
children
and live
out a
life
of
following
him
in
growing
in
confidence
and
reliance
on
him
he
calls
them
to
worship
him
exclusively
he
also
calls
all
his
followers
to
do
the
same
no
matter
where
you
are
from
and
what
ethnicity
you
are
born
into
but
instead
of
obeying
and
sticking
to
the
proclamation
of
allegiance
Israel
seeked
to
create
God
for
themselves
and
cause
God
to
burn
with
anger
only
40
days
after
their
resolutions
so
if
you
are
a
Christian
a
follower
of
Christ
have
your
life
been
a
joy
and
honor
to
God
have
you
been
causing
God
to
burn
with
anger
God
could
have
purified
the
camp
without
Moses
and
the
Levites
however
he
revealed
his
intention
to
Moses
and
invite
him
to
share
in
the
manifestation
of
his
mercy
God
worked
through
the
Levites
who
ran
against
the
sons
and
brothers
when
3,000
of
them
did
not
repent
and
stopped
their
sinning
today
we
are
all
pressured
by
society
to
give
in
and
fit
in
to
be
part
of
the
crowd
or
are
you
willing
to
stick
with
God
and
stand
on
God's
side
even
if
it
means
for
you
to
go
against
your
family
and
friends
and
relatives
or
have
you
been
buckling
under
wanting
to be
liked
and fit
in
and
stay
in
the
wrong
crowd
God
shows
love
to
a
thousand
generations
of
those
who
love
him
and
keep
his
commandments
wouldn't
you
rather
be
on
God's
side
when
it
comes
to
judgment
time
verse
30
to
32
told
us
that
the
next
day
Moses
tried
to
atone
the
sin
of
the
people
by
offering
himself
as
a
substitute
you
have
committed
a
great
sin
but
now
I
will
go
up
to
the
Lord
perhaps
I
can
make
atonement
for
your
sin
so
Moses
ran
back
to
the
Lord
and
say
oh
what
a
great
sin
these
people
have
committed
they
have
made
themselves
gods
of
gold
but
now
please
forgive
their
sin
but
if
not
then
blot
me
out
of
the
book
you
have
written
Moses
offered
his
own
life
to
secure
God's
forgiveness
and
at
this
moment
he
foreshadowed
the
person
and
work
of
Jesus
Christ
brilliantly
Israel
had
rejected
Moses
yet
he
was
willing
to
give
himself
for
her
God
of
course
did
not
require
this
of
Moses
he
forgives
Israel's
sin
and
Moses
remained
Israel
leader
but
Moses
offered
upon
us
to
Jesus
like
Moses
Jesus
was
widely
rejected
by
his
people
they
had
once
worshipped
him
as
the
coming
Messiah
placing
plant
branches
of
victory
in
his
path
in
his
triumph
entry
into
Jerusalem
but
they
quickly
turned
against
him
and
demand
his
crucifixion
in the
hands
of
Pontius
Pilate
upon
the cross
Jesus
sown
compassion
on
the very
people
that have
demanded
his
crucifixion
and
in the
end of
Luke
before
his
death
Jesus
cried out
Father
forgive
them
for
they
do
not
know
what
they
do
both
Moses
and
Jesus
were
willing
to
give
their
life
for
the
sins
of
God's
people
but
the
significant
difference
was that
the
offering
that
Jesus
made
was
productive
in
all
respects
while
Moses
heart
was
in
the
right
place
and
displaying
the
heart
of
a
mediator
Moses
could
not
atone
for
the
sins
of
God's
chosen
people
because
he
lacks
the
required
righteousness
to
satisfy
God's
holy
standard
in
the
account
of
Israel
sins
of
adultery
with
the
holy
golden
calf
Moses
makes
his
judgment
and
mercy
in
just
the
right
proportion
he
is
even
willing
to
give
himself
to
secure
the
protection
of
his
people
but
of
course
what
we
witness
he
is
Moses
fulfilling
his
most
tremendous
role
of
typifying
and
foreshadowing
Jesus
and
his
work
God
said
towards
the
end
of
chapter
32
when
the
time
comes
for
me
to
punish
I
will
punish
them
for
their
sin
this
future
pointing
statement
is
fulfilled
when
God
did
what
the
Levites
has
done
with
their
sons
and
brothers
they
killed
3,000
of their
own
sons
and
brothers
to
stop
the
people
from
carrying
on
in
their
God
disgracing
reverie
in
worshipping
their
idol
and
God
killed
his
one
and
only
son
Jesus
to
redeem
his
people
back
to
a
right
relationship
with
him
so
instead
of
punishing
us
for
our
sin
he
put
the
punishment
on
his
son
and
himself
God
is
always
consistent
with
his
actions
and
his
requirement
for
us
to
follow
him
whatever
standard
he set
for
his
people
he
also
set
for
himself
and
in
Jesus
death
and
resurrection
the
righteous
requirement
and
the
love
of
God
are
both
fulfilled
in
the
cross
God
is
righteously
loving
and
lovingly
righteous
towards
his
creation
in
the
cross
the
sinless
incarnate
son
of
God
atone
for
the
sin
of
the
creations
and
dealt
with
the
crisis
and
dilemma
of
how
a
holy
God
can
live
among
sinful
human
being
Luke
recorded
in the
beginning
of the
book
of
Acts
that
after
Jesus'
resurrection
he
spent
40
days
with
the
apostles
that
he
had
chosen
in
Acts
1
chapter
1
verse
3
he
said
after
his
sufferings
he
presented
himself
to
them
and
gave
many
convincing
proof
that
he
was
alive
he
appeared
to
them
over
a
period
of
40
days
and
spoke
about
the
kingdom
of
God
he
also
told
them
that
they
would
receive
the
Holy
Spirit
and
speak
boldly
for
God
and
this
time
God's
chosen
people
did
not
forget
what
the
Lord
had
told
them
so
they
waited
in
prayer
for
the
arrival
of
the
Spirit
then
when
the
Spirit
come
to
enable
them
they
began
to
speak
in
many
languages
of
those
gathering
with
them
proclaiming
that
God
has
made
the
crucified
Jesus
their
Lord
and
Savior
the
people
gathered
were
convicted
by
the
message
and
responded
to
the
call
to
repent
and
be
baptized
and
furthermore
they
responded
to
the
call
to
save
themselves
from
this
corrupt
generation
in
Acts
2
verse
41
told
us
those
who
accepted
this
message
were
baptized
and
about
3,000
were
added
to
the
number
that
day
3,000
people
were put
to death
about
40
days
after
Israel
said
in one
voice
that
they
would
obey
whatever
God
has
commanded
them
to
do
but
failed
to
stop
and repent
of
the
blatant
disobedience
in
worshiping
idols
they
were
sacrificed
to
bring
the
community
back
to
a
right
worship
of
God
3,000
people
were
saved
about
40
days
after
Jesus
resurrection
when
the
Holy
Spirit
touches
their
heart
with
the
message
of
God
saving
mercy
in
the
cross
of
Jesus
repented
and
accepted
Jesus
as their
Lord
and
Savior
saving
themselves
from
the
corrupt
generation
God
had
mixed
God
has
made
it
possible
for
his
holiness
to
draw
a
man
sinner
through
the
ruling
sacrifice
of
Jesus
his
son
by
offering
himself
as a
perfect
atonement
of
our
sin
he
has
also
made
it
possible
for
us
sinners
to
worship
him
God
would
be
right
in
laying
out
judgment
on
this
world
but
he
in
his
extraordinary
mercy
he
punished
his
son
instead
how
could
us
so